I watched the two of them work in sync with each other. They made quite the team and Tobias actually didn"t seem to mind the work.
"If you want his attention, you will have to get in line."
I turned around to see a man in his early twenties. He was pretty cute.
"I"m sorry?"
"The young bartender. I saw you looking at him. Actually I saw about half the bar looking at him."
I looked over to find that he was right. Nearly every girl in the bar was checking him out. Some of them were even flirting shamelessly with him at the bar. Even worse, he seemed to be smiling about it and flirting back.
I don"t know why it bothered me so much, but seeing him flirting back made me want to storm over there and drag the b.i.t.c.hes away by their hair. I know I have no right to be upset, it"s not like Tobias and I are dating. He was free to do whatever he wanted.
"I don"t care about the man candy, I just wanted a drink."
"Well good, because a girl as beautiful as you deserves someone better than that."
I was actually kind of offended by his compliment. Who the h.e.l.l did this guy think he was? He didn"t even know Tobias. I watched a half dressed bimbo slip Tobias her number and he actually had the audacity to wink at her and put the number in his pocket. He was flirting. Two could play at that game.
"Well then let"s go dance and after you can buy me a drink."
He smiled and then held out his hand. I took it and followed him to the dance floor. Amelia seemed to have disappeared and Tristan wasn"t at our table anymore. It didn"t take a genius to figure out where they disappeared too.
I felt the man"s hand slide around me to pull me closer to him. His hands were surprisingly cold considering it was really hot in here. Something about him made me feel a little uncomfortable.
"Tell me something Willow, why would you want anything to do with Tobias and his brother?"
My blood ran cold as his grip tightened around me.
"I didn"t tell you my name."
"I know."
I tried to pull away from him, but it was no use. He was too strong. I looked towards the bar and tried to scream for Tobias, but before I could even get a word out everything went black.
CHAPTER SEVEN.
TOBIAS.
The bar was the busiest I have ever seen it. The look on Micky"s face made it all worth it. Between him and Willow, tonight was perfect. She had a birthday of her dreams, and Micky was finally getting the business he deserved. Even Tristan and Amelia were having a good time.
The thing that surprised me the most about tonight was the fact that Amelia and Willow seemed to be becoming friends. Amelia has always been the sort of person who needed to be the center of attention. She always felt threatened when there was another woman in the room, especially if the woman was as beautiful as Willow.
When Tristan had suggested we sit out from dancing I thought he was nuts. I figured the two would have torn each other apart before they danced together.
When Micky came over and joined us at the table for a drink he said he wasn"t surprised by their friendship at all. When I asked why he told me that Amelia was an attention wh.o.r.e, while Willow had no problem staying out of the lime light. He was right. If you really thought about it they make the perfect pair. Amelia refused to admit it but she was lonely and craved a friend yet hated feeling like she had to compete with someone else. Willow likes making friends but sticks to the shadows as much as possible.
Unbelievable. My ex-wife and my girlfriend getting along. Wait, did I just refer to Willow as my girlfriend? I know we shared a kiss earlier but that doesn"t mean she wants to go out with an immortal blood sucking freak. I"m not sure what she was to me, but I did know one thing: my life has become a whole lot better with her in it.
I spent the rest of the night helping Micky behind the bar. The crowds were almost impossible to keep up with. Micky said it was his fault for being so d.a.m.n s.e.xy. The guy was a real comedian.
I watched Willow dance from across the room. Every move she made would cause my c.o.c.k to twitch against the sticking of my jeans. I wanted her in so many ways and if the place wasn"t full of people I probably would have bent her over the bar table and had my way with her.
I noticed the over flow of trashy women hovering around the bar. Most of them just stared at me from afar but there were a few who actually had the nerve to come over and try to hit on me. One girl in particular who wore a fishnet dress over a bikini even gave me her number.
What I wanted to do was tell her to invest her money in clothes instead of liquor and to wash the makeup off her face because she looked like a clown. Instead, I winked at her and pretended to slip her number in my pocket.
I let the small paper fall to the floor behind the bar. Any other night I would have told the chick off, but tonight was too important to cause a scene.
I caught a glimpse of Willow walking to the dance floor hand in hand with some blond haired douche. The hunger inside of me rose to the brink of taking over. Every part of my body wanted to go over there and rip that pretty boys head clear off his shoulders.
Micky caught on immediately because it didn"t take him long to make it to my side. His hand on my shoulder did little to calm my hunger.
"Go dance with your girl boy, but don"t leave blood in my bar. That s.h.i.t"s a b.i.t.c.h to clean up."
I nodded to Micky then hopped over the bar table. I know Micky didn"t want blood all over his floor but if that guy didn"t his hands off my cupcake I was going to kill him.
By the time I pushed through the crowd, I couldn"t see Willow or the douche anymore. It felt like I was swimming in a sea of faces. Where the f.u.c.k did she go? I grabbed onto the railing of the platform where our booth was and pulled myself up. Tristan and Amelia were gone and I couldn"t see any sign of Willow on the dance floor.
"Tobias! The door!"
Tristan"s voice sounded panicked and I could see him pushing his way through the crowd like an animal. I saw right away what he was trying to get to. The blond douche from earlier was carrying a limp blue haired girl in a blue dress.
"Willow!"
I tried to call out to her over the music. She wasn"t moving and, so help me G.o.d, if he killed her, he would be tortured to the point that he wished for death.
I jumped down and took off after Tristan. There was no way I was going to let him beat me to the a.s.shole.
When I got outside the street was deserted. For the first time in three hundred years I felt scared. I was afraid of losing Willow. The thought drove me crazy.
"d.a.m.n it!"
I punched my fist into the brick wall of the store next door. The pain did nothing to ease my panic. Willow was gone. I reached for my phone to call Tristan to check if he was following the a.s.shole who took her when I heard a voice come out of the shadows.
"Took you long enough."
The man from the bar stepped into the light. He wore a smirk on his face and his eyes were blood red. He was a vampire.
"Where is Willow?"
"She"s safe." I wanted to punch the smug look off his face.
"Where the f.u.c.k is she?!"
"She"s inside. I told your brother she blacked out while we were dancing and I was just carrying her off the dance floor. I think he took her upstairs to lie down."
I turned around to head back inside but before I could reach the door he was in front of me blocking the way.
"Move!"
"Say please."
"Get the f.u.c.k out of my way." It took everything I had not to attack him.
"That"s no way to treat someone who came all this way to deliver a message."
"What message?"
I didn"t even have time to react. His fist connected with my face so fast I didn"t even see it coming. He was baiting me. I could tell he wanted the vampire in me to come out and play. Fine, if he wanted to dance I"d bring him the whole f.u.c.king party.
I felt the hunger spread through my entire body. The anger and the power were spreading and I could feel the monster inside taking over.
The guy came at me but this time I was ready for him. I caught his fist in my hand and twisted his arm around until he stood in front of me, then I pushed him face first into the brick wall, pinning him there.
"Calliope told me to say h.e.l.lo, and to be careful how close you get to your precious Willow."
Rage filled me as I pulled his head back and slammed it into the wall again. Calliope could take her message and shove it up her a.s.s. It"s been three hundred years, and now the b.i.t.c.h wants to come marching back into our lives uttering threats.
Jasper has been searching for Calliope for three hundred years. Not so much as a hint of her location until now. If she was coming to town I was going to make d.a.m.n sure we were ready for her. This time she wouldn"t leave alive.
I plunged my hand through his back and ripped out his heart. His entire body stilled against the wall before falling to the ground in ashes. The hunger subsided as soon as I remembered Willow. I rushed inside and took the steps two at a time until I reached the spare room.
I found Willow pa.s.sed out in the cot and both Tristan and Amelia sitting on the floor beside her. Tristan"s back was against the wall and Amelia sat between his legs leaning back against his chest. For the most part Willow looked unharmed.
"What the f.u.c.k happened?" Tristan nodded towards my arm that was soaked in blood.
I left the room without saying a word. Willow was safe that"s all that mattered. The hunger inside of me still lurked close to the surface and I needed to feed.
It was getting late and the bar was still packed with people, but the streets were practically deserted. I didn"t want to return to the bar because the last thing Micky needed was all h.e.l.l breaking loose on his dance floor.
"Hey there big boy." The words were slurred behind me.
I turned around to see the girl from earlier who had slipped me her number. I felt the p.r.i.c.k of my fangs against my lip. As unappetizing as s.k.a.n.k seemed, she would have to do.
"You know, you shouldn"t be out here all alone. The streets are pretty dangerous at night." I smirked with my reply; if only she knew.
"I"ve heard all the scary stories but I"m sure I"ll be safe out here with you."
"Don"t count on it."
Before she could take another step I had her pinned against the wall and my teeth buried into her neck. My hand was covering her mouth to keep her from screaming. If anyone were to leave the bar right now it would look like nothing more than two drunks getting dirty in the alley.
The hunger inside of me wanted to take her life, death was the only way it was truly satisfied. I couldn"t though. I refuse to be that person again. After the way Willow looked at me earlier when I almost lost control, there was no way I could ever let myself take another life.
I pulled away from her and removed my hand from her mouth. She was able to stay on her feet which is a good sign. I"d wipe the memory from her mind but with the amount of alcohol I could taste in her blood there was no way she"d even remember tonight.
I called her an ambulance. I Told them she had alcohol poisoning and had got in a bar fight. I gave them the address and left when I heard the sirens.
I needed to get cleaned up; I was covered in blood and Willow didn"t need to see me like this when she woke up. The private bathroom was at the bottom of the stairs and away from the public. I shrugged off my jacket then pulled off my blood stained shirt. I left the shirt in the sink and ran the hot water to try to wash the blood out of my white shirt. Tristan came in as I was scrubbing the blood off my arms.
"Micky is shutting down for the night. Almost everyone"s gone. Want to tell me what the h.e.l.l happened?"
I looked at him through the reflection of the mirror and just shook my head. No one was going to be happy about Calliope being back.
"The guy who had Willow works for Calliope."
I could feel the tension in the room at those words. Tristan remained motionless behind me but I could tell he was fighting back the rage we all felt inside.
"Son of a b.i.t.c.h!" Tristan turned around and punched a hole in the bathroom wall.
"I should have known something was up. I had him there when I got Willow, I should have killed the f.u.c.ker where he stood."
"I did."
I grabbed a rag off the small rack in the room and began drying my arms off. Tristan paced the room while raking his hands through his hair. If he pulled any harder he was going to rip it out.
"What the h.e.l.l does she want?"
"I don"t know but he sent him here with a message. Told me to be careful how close I get to Willow."
"Was that a threat for you, or for her?"
"Doesn"t matter. If the b.i.t.c.h shows up she is as good as dead."
I walked past Tristan and headed back up the stairs still shirtless. I found Amelia sitting on the side of the cot beside Willow brushing her hair out of her face. It almost looked like she actually cared.
"Did she wake up yet?"
"No. But she seems fine." Amelia replied then stood up and headed for the door.
"I can see the way she looks at you Tobias and I can see the way you look at her. Don"t be an idiot. Either do something about it, or let her go so she can be happy."
Amelia left the room just as Tristan came in. I know what she said was true but I couldn"t let myself open up to Willow any more than I already had.
"What was that about?"
"I have to let Willow go." I kept my eyes on Willow as she slept. Her features were soft and she was still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.
"What do you mean "let her go"? She has nowhere to go. You kidnapped her, Tobias, and she"s been living with us ever since. Sure it"s not exactly a normal situation, but everything has worked out. She likes it there and I know you like having her there."
"That"s the problem. I"m no good for her. Her life will be better off without me in it. When she wakes up I"m saying goodbye."